


Inhuman

by hblankm



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Gen, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Secret Identity, Sokovia Accords, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-03 06:47:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15813636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hblankm/pseuds/hblankm
Summary: Peter’s stomach felt weirdly unsettled.  “What do they mean by ‘inhuman individuals’?”  He looked up at Ned, who was also reading his screen.“Well, the article mentions enhanced individuals as well, so maybe they’re talking about mutants? Supers?”  Ned suggested.“But,” Peter fiddled with the straps of his (new) backpack, “That doesn’t—they aren’t talking about people like me, right?  I’m not… inhuman?”





	1. The Bill

**Author's Note:**

> I'm taking liberties with facts here, both in universe facts and IRL facts. The Accords are probably slightly different in this than to canon, and I don't know all that much about IRL politics here, let alone politics in America so just bear with me and my basic research.

Peter had never really paid a whole lot of attention to the news.  Sure, he used social media just as much as anyone and kept up with memes and stuff that his classmates posted about themselves, but that was about it.  When he’d started with the whole Spider-Man thing he’d made sure to be more aware of any news there was about local crimes and the like (and he may or may not have managed to get access to some police radio channels that he definitely should not have been listening to but that was just so that he could help, okay!).  Politics, however, wasn’t something he ever thought he could really affect.  He knew about the big things, of course, and Michelle made sure he knew about all the injustices that were going on in the world, but it wasn’t something he could actively do anything about.  He couldn’t even vote yet, after all.  Better to focus on the people he could help in the here and now.

He did understand the Sokovia Accords.  He hadn’t, fully, when he’d gone to Germany with Mr Stark.  But he’d gotten to understand it more since, and although he didn’t agree with every part of them he knew that they were necessary.  He knew all about power and responsibility.  After Ben... well, it was something he took seriously.  And the Avengers (as amazing as Peter thought they were) couldn’t just go into other countries and do whatever they wanted.  He was fairly certain that was already against the law, even before the Accords.  The Avengers were supposedly a part of a government organisation, after all.

The thing was, though, that Peter was never an Avenger.  He wasn’t part of any organisation, he didn’t travel overseas for missions (excluding the Germany incident), and he barely ever even left Queens.  He was just helping out his neighbours!  Being a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, all that.  It would be irresponsible of him _not_ to help.  The Accords were for the Avengers and Peter wasn’t an Avenger.  So, they didn’t apply to him.  That was that, and Peter had put them out of his mind months ago.

Maybe if he’d paid more attention to politics (and Michelle, probably) it would have occurred to him that just because the Accords didn’t apply to him, didn’t mean there weren’t other laws that did.  Or that if there weren’t other laws already, it was only a matter of time before some were created.

 

 

“Hey, Peter.”

Peter looked up from his phone at Ned.  School had just finished and they were walking through the halls.  They’d both been checking their phones for any notifications they’d gotten during class.  “Yeah?”

“Has Mr Stark mentioned anything about this to you?”  Ned turned his phone around so Peter could see what was on his screen.  _Tony Stark Speaks out Against Secretary Ross’s New ‘Inhuman Individuals’ Bill_ reads the title of a news article.  Peter scrunched his eyebrows together.

“Uh, no he hasn’t mentioned it.  I mean, I knew he didn’t like Ross but he never said anything about a bill.”  Mr Stark had only mentioned Ross a few times, and it had always been with a tone of annoyance or frustration.  Peter was pretty sure it had to do with the changes Mr Stark had been trying to get made to the Accords, but he’d never asked. 

“I wonder what it’s about,” said Ned casually, turning his phone back, “I mean, what does he even mean by ‘inhuman individuals’?”  Peter didn’t know, and went to open up a news app on his own phone.  He didn’t even need to search anything in the toolbar because right at the top were a bunch of articles all about some bill that had apparently been passed by the House of Representatives earlier that day.

“I don’t know,” said Peter, scanning the headings. “It’s got to be important if Mr Stark is making statements about it, though.”  He tapped one of the articles and read the beginning of it.

 

_Security of Inhuman Individuals Bill Passes House of Reps_

_Earlier today a bill proposed by a representative was passed with little debate by the House of Representatives.  The bill, named the Security of Inhuman Individuals Bill, calls for the registration and containment of so-called ‘inhuman’ citizens.  Though there is no official confirmation of it, there is strong speculation that the representative who proposed this bill was acting under the guidance of Secretary Thaddeus Ross.  The speed at which the bill was passed hints that Ross had already put his idea forward to numerous members of congress privately.  This comes amid public debate surrounding the Sokovia Accords from just six months ago, suggesting the US government is looking to tighten its monitoring of enhanced individuals…_

 

Peter’s stomach felt weirdly unsettled.  “What do they mean by ‘inhuman individuals’?”  He looked up at Ned, who was also reading his screen.

“Well, the article mentions enhanced individuals as well, so maybe they’re talking about mutants? Supers?”  Ned suggested.

“But,” Peter fiddled with the straps of his (new) backpack, “That doesn’t—they aren’t talking about people like _me_ , right?  I’m not… _inhuman?_ ”

“What?”  Ned looked like it hadn’t even occurred to him.  “Dude, of course not!  You’re human!  You’re like, the most human human I know.”  Peter breathed out.  Ned was right, he wasn’t an alien or anything.  He was just being silly.

“Yeah, thanks.”  Peter smiled.  Ned did look a little concerned, though.

“You should probably talk to Mr Stark about it, though.  Just so he can explain it, you know?”

Peter nodded.  He’d see Mr Stark on the weekend, they were going to test some of the limits of his web fluid in the lab together.  “That’s a good idea.  He’ll know what’s going on.”

They were walking out of the school gates now and Peter was about to say goodbye to Ned and head towards the train station when he heard someone call out.

“Hey, kid!”  Peter looked over to see Happy standing by an expensive looking black car and waving him over.

“I thought you weren’t going to the Compound until this weekend?”  said Ned.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”  Peter shrugged.  “Mr Stark didn’t message me about anything, maybe he just forgot?  Anyway, I better go.” 

“Your life is so cool, Peter, I hope you know that.”  Ned looked wistfully at the car.  Peter laughed.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ned.”

“Bye, Peter.”  Ned waved goodbye and headed off to where his Mum was waiting in her car.

Peter hurried over to Happy, his backpack bouncing as he moved.

“Hey, Happy!  Mr Stark didn’t say anything about you picking me up today.  Not that I’m not happy to have you pick me up!” Peter quickly clarified, “It’s really nice of you, way better than public transport, plus I don’t have to deal with all of the noises, you know?  I just wasn’t expecting you, is all.”  Peter saw the unimpressed look on Happy’s face and realised he was talking too much again.  “Why—um, why _are_ you here, Mr Happy?” 

Happy didn’t answer, just let out a sigh which, oddly, sounded more sad than exasperated.

“Just get in the car, kid,” he said, opening the back door for him.  Peter ducked in quickly, not wanting to annoy Happy if he was in a mood again.  He fastened his seatbelt as Happy got into the driver’s seat and immediately started pulling away from the kerb.  There were a few moments of silence as Happy navigated his way out of the parking lot.  Peter fiddled with his hands.

“So, um.  Should I tell Aunt May I’ll be home late?  It’s just she’s kind of strict about knowing where I’m at after the whole… you know.”  Perhaps mentioning the incident when May found out about Spider-Man wasn’t the smartest move if he was trying not to annoy Happy.  May had been (understandably) a bit upset to discover her nephew was running around fighting crime in a colourful skin-tight suit and it hadn’t taken her long to realise just who must have been the one to give him that suit.  She’d taken Peter’s phone and called Happy, who’d had to listen to her ranting and shouting at him before he ended up transferring the call to Mr Stark himself.  May still hadn’t calmed down then and had taken the suit from Peter (who had been panicking too much to really explain anything at all).  Mr Stark actually ended up coming to the apartment to explain all of the safety protocols he’d installed in the suit and that Peter had been doing the whole Spider-Man thing unsupervised for months before Mr Stark got involved.  They’d all eventually come to a shaky agreement but May still wasn’t happy with it and Peter had to let her know where he was and what he was doing all the time.

“You’ll be home within a couple of hours,” said Happy, “We’re just going to the Tower, not the Compound.”

“Oh.  Why are we going there?”  Whenever Peter visited Mr Stark (which had actually been happening fairly regularly since the whole homecoming fiasco) it was usually at the Avengers Compound, since that’s where Mr Stark was spending most of his time after moving the Avengers’ base and his main lab there.  Mr Stark said they were still waiting for a buyer for the Tower, but Peter suspected he just didn't want to part with it completely yet.

“Tony wanted to see you before he leaves for DC, and there wasn’t time to take you upstate.”

“Mr Stark’s going to DC?”  This was the first Peter was hearing about this.  “Is he going to be back for the weekend?  We were meant to work on—“

“Kid, I don’t know when he’ll be back.  It depends how some things pan out, okay?”  Peter shut his mouth.  Happy seemed stressed.  More so than usual.   The man in question pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at Peter through the rear view mirror.  “Look, Peter, there are a lot of things happening right now, and you need to listen to what Tony tells you, alright?”

Peter nodded.  “I will.”  He always listened to Mr Stark.

“Good,” said Happy, clearly seeing that as the end of the conversation.

Peter wondered what Mr Stark wanted to see him about.  If it was about their plans for the weekend being cancelled then Mr Stark would’ve just sent him a text letting him know, not gotten Happy to pick him up from school.  Could it be to do with the new bill?  That could explain why Mr Stark was going to DC.  He’d publicly opposed the bill, after all.  But what could he actually do about it other than make a statement to the media?  And it seemed Mr Stark had already done that.

Peter pulled his phone out and opened up the news app again, selecting one of the articles about Mr Stark’s statement.

 

_Tony Stark, who has made his support for the Sokovia Accords public on numerous occasions, surprised many when he condemned the new bill put forward by Secretary Ross today.  The Security of Inhuman Individuals bill calls for tighter control of enhanced citizens.  Mr Stark has claimed that the bill is a ‘violation of human rights and Ross’s desperate attempt to use fear to grasp more power’.  In his statement he also explained that ‘the [Sokovia] Accords were put forward by the United Nations to regulate an established organisation on an international level’ and that Ross’s plan, which the Secretary himself describes as a simple domestic extension of the Accords, is a ‘distorted bastardisation of the Accords that will disrupt the lives of innocent civilians who are not part of any organisation remotely similar to The Avengers Initiative’._

That… didn’t sound good.  What exactly would happen if this became law?  Did it apply to Peter?  He certainly counted as enhanced, but inhuman?  Was Peter going to get shipped off to some prison?  To be experimented on and his abilities tested?  He was overcome with thankfulness that he’d decided to keep his identity a secret.  But if the police were going to be out for Spider-Man that could really cause a few problems for him.  Peter chewed on his lip.  They were almost at the Tower.  Mr Stark would fix this, right?

Happy pulled up outside the front of Stark Tower, telling Peter to hop out and go up to the penthouse without him before he drove off, presumably to park the car.  Peter hesitated slightly before going through the large glass doors into the Tower’s foyer.  He couldn’t stop thinking about the article.  About Tony’s statement.  _Innocent civilians who have not are not part of any organisation remotely similar to The Avengers Initiative_.  Was that Peter?  Was that a reference to Peter turning down Mr Stark’s offer to be an Avenger?  No, he was overthinking this.  Tony’s statement had nothing to do with him.  Resolved, Peter hastened through the foyer and over to one of the lifts.

“Hello, Mr Parker,” greeted FRIDAY as the lift doors closed, “Mr Stark has instructed me to take you directly to him on your arrival.”  The lift immediately started moving upwards.

“Uh, thanks FRIDAY.”  That seemed a little bit odd.  But maybe that was just because Peter wasn’t totally used to FRIDAY yet.  It was too quiet in the lift.  Peter realised he was tapping one of his feet and made a conscious effort to keep still.  When the lift finally arrived at the correct floor and the doors opened up Peter exited quickly, stepping into the lounge area. 

“Peter.”  Mr Stark was standing by the kitchen bench, his phone in his hands and wearing a suit and tie.  He had an empty coffee mug sitting on the bench beside him.  Peter walked over.

“Happy said you were going to DC?  And that you wanted to see me?”  He tried to keep his voice even, but he knew that Mr Stark would be able to hear the nervousness that seeped into his speech.  It was obvious.  Peter hated that.

“Yeah, kiddo.  I needed to talk to you.”  Mr Stark gestured to the lounge and they both sat down.

“What’s—what’s going on, Mr Stark?  Is everything alright?”  He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.  Peter wasn’t sure if he should mention it.  Mr Stark sighed.  It was the same sad sigh that Happy had made earlier.

“Not exactly, but it will be.  Peter, have you read the news today?”  So it was about the bill.  Peter felt a tendril of panic coil through his chest.

“You mean the bill.  The one Secretary Ross proposed and you made a statement about.” 

“Yes.”  Mr Stark closed his eyes for a moment, pausing slightly before opening them again.  “That’s why I need to go to DC for a little while.  To help stop that from going through.” 

Peter remained silent.

“I need you to promise me that you’ll keep a low profile while I’m gone, okay?”  Mr Stark looked directly at Peter, a hint of urgency in his tone.

“A low profile?”

“No profile at all, if possible.” 

“…You don’t want me to go out as Spider-Man,” Peter said in realisation.

Mr Stark nodded.  “I’m not going to let this pass, Peter, I _promise_ , but I need you to do this for me.  Just in case.”  Peter felt less reassured than before.

“What happens to me if it does pass?” _What happens to Spider-Man?  To all of the other enhanced people in America?_

“Nothing will happen to you,” Mr Stark said determinedly.  “Nobody knows who you are, and that’s how it’s going to stay.  But right now I need you to not take any risks with this.” 

Peter went to reassure Mr Stark he would do as he asked, but hesitated for a moment.  Spider-Man helped people.  Saved people.

“How long do you want me to wait?” 

Mr Stark seemed to struggle with himself before he answered.

“I don’t know,” he admitted.  “Ross has obviously been planning this for a while.  Organising it off the books and I didn’t even realise because I was too busy worrying about getting the damn Accords changed and—“ he shook his head, cutting himself off, “That doesn’t matter now.  But I suspect he’s going to try to hurry this through as quickly as possible.  Within a couple of weeks, probably.  If all goes to plan, this will all be finished then.  If not,” Mr Stark started and Peter’s heart rate sped up, “then we’ll just have to work it out later.”  Peter wasn’t sure what working it out later meant.  But a couple of weeks?  That he could deal with.

“Okay,” he said.  He saw Mr Stark slump in relief.  “I’ll stand down for a couple of weeks.”  Mr Stark’s shoulders tightened a bit at that, but he didn’t argue.

“Thank you, Peter.”

Peter nodded.  He knew Mr Stark wasn’t telling him everything.  Was treating him like a child.  But for once, Peter _felt_ like a child.  He didn’t know what was going to happen.  And he was scared.

“How are you going to stop it?” 

Mr Stark gave him a small smile.  “Friends in high places,” he said.  “There are a few people who owe me.  Never be afraid to use your contacts, kid.”  Peter felt slightly more reassured at that.  Mr Stark had a plan.  And he was the smartest person Peter knew. If he thought it would work then it would work.  _But if he’s so sure of his plan, then why is he stopping you from going out as Spider-Man?_   Peter ignored the voice pointing that out.  It was just a precaution.  Mr Stark was just covering his bases; that was the smart thing to do.

“Now,” said Mr Stark, suddenly a bit brighter, “you better get going back home before May calls me up and accuses me of stealing her kid.”  They both stood up and he placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder, steering him back over to the lift.  “FRIDAY, take Peter back down will you?”

“Of course, Sir. Happy is already waiting to take Mr Parker back home.”

The metal doors opened and Peter went in.

“Bye, Mr Stark.”

“Be careful, Peter,” Mr Stark said one last time.

 _You be careful, too_ , Peter didn’t say.  The doors were already closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking this will be around 4 chapters? I have it planned out and that's my early estimate, but it could be shorter or longer, I suppose we'll see!
> 
> I have a tumblr! Same username, come say hi :)
> 
> I don't think I can properly explain how happy kudos and comments make me, any would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Edited 11/9 because I noticed some mistakes oops.


	2. Guy in The Chair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, sorry (and sorry for the wait hahahahahaha what is time management amiright), but you get some Ned POV!

“Tony called me last night,” said May.

Peter paused, looking up from fiddling with his toast.

“He called you?  Why?”  Peter and May were, for once, eating breakfast at the same time; a rare occurrence ever since May had taken on a second job.

“He said he spoke to you about this new bill?”  May’s words were careful.

“Yeah. He, uh – he told me he was going to DC to try and get it stopped.”

May nodded.

“He told me that, too.  And that he asked you to not… go out for a while.”  May still wasn’t comfortable with the whole Spider-Man thing, and she was even less comfortable with Mr Stark.  Peter was surprised he’d called May at all and risked her yelling at him again.

“It’s just for a couple of weeks.  And then back to normal.”  Peter wasn’t sure if that would really be a reassuring thing for May to hear but he didn’t want her to worry about the bill, too.  Mr Stark would deal with it, anyway.  It would be fine.  Peter finished the last bite of his toast and stood up to take his plate to the sink.  He grabbed his bag and went to leave.  “I’ll see you this evening.”

May smiled gently. “Just – make sure you’re careful, Peter.”

“I will, May, I promise.  It’s not a big deal.”  He’d already promised Mr Stark, after all.

“Thank you, Peter.”

“ _Goodbye_ May,” he answered, already on his way out the door.  “Love you.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Ned Leeds was an _amazing_ Guy in The Chair (capitals necessary).  Ned didn’t think he was being arrogant about it; he hadn’t even _told_ anyone about it.  Which really, just proved even more that it was true.  Sure, Peter was the hero, but Ned could be proud of his part.  Ned had saved Peter’s ass during Homecoming.  And what teen superhero other than Spider-Man could claim they had a best friend who could hack a multimillion dollar suit made by _Tony Stark_?  Yeah, Ned was pretty proud of that.  And Mr Stark hadn’t come after him so he figured he wasn’t even in trouble for it!  This whole thing was definitely the coolest thing that had ever happened to him, and probably ever would. 

Ned wasn’t jealous of Peter, either.  He was much happier to stay in the figurative chair and preferably not get into any trouble.  The only problem was that he hadn’t actually avoided trouble.  Sure, he hadn’t gotten into an physical fight and crashed a plane (which, _wow Peter, a plane???_ ), but apparently sneaking off from the Homecoming dance to look at porn on the school computers wasn’t something that just got ignored by the school. 

“I’ve got a meeting this morning,” he complained loudly, “with the _Principal_.”

Peter laughed at Ned’s dramatics.  They’d met at a subway station and were walking the rest of the way to school.  “What about?”

“About Homecoming,” he answered dejectedly.  “The most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me and I had to pretend I was looking at porn.  A tragedy, truly.”

“Oh, I completely forgot.”  Peter was looking entirely too guilt ridden for Ned’s liking.  “I’m really sorry, Ned.  Maybe you can tell them it was me?  That you just found me looking at it and then I ditched or something?  Everyone already knows I disappeared and left Liz.”

“What?  No, Pete, don’t worry about it!  I’ll probably just get a warning anyway, it’s not like I have a bad record or anything,” Ned was quick to reassure.  He really didn’t want Peter to try to take the fall for him.  Peter had already seen the Principal too many times this year, plus he had enough things to worry about already, what with the whole vigilante thing.  “Hey, what happened with Mr Stark yesterday?  Did you guys work in the lab together again?  Or wait, was there a _mission_?” he asked excitedly, trying to change the subject.

Peter shook his head.  “No, he – he wanted to talk with me about that, um, bill.” 

“Really?  What’d he say?”  Ned could see that Peter looked uncomfortable.  Maybe this was the wrong topic to change to.  But Ned also really wanted to know now, especially if it was something Peter was worried about.

Peter explained how Mr Stark had asked him to lay low for a few weeks while he was in DC.

“He seemed kind of… tense about the whole thing, you know?  And he rang May as well so now she’s worried too, which she totally doesn’t have to be!  I promised them I wouldn’t patrol for a little while, but even if I did it’s not like anyone knows who I am – so really that’s not even necessary and they’re both just being—“

“Wait, Peter, Mr Stark actually _called_ May?  Doesn’t she, like, hate him?”  Ned was fairly sure Peter had mentioned something about phone calls and yelling and possibly even Mr Stark getting a black eye when May had found out?

Peter winced.

“Yeah, uh, she still hasn’t completely warmed up to him, but Ned that’s not the point!  Anyway, do you think Mr Stark will know if I use the suit?  Like, will he get an alert or something?”

Ned raised his eyebrows. “I thought you just said you promised you wouldn’t?”

“Well, yes, but what if there’s an emergency?”  Peter looked at him like he was an idiot.  Ned gave him a similar look back.

“Dude, I think you should listen to them.”

Peter sighed forcefully.  “I’m not going to use the suit if I don’t have to.  I just – I can’t just _not do anything_ if something bad happens.”

Ned grabbed Peter’s shoulder.  “If something happens, you can call someone else to help.  You don’t have to do everything on your own, Peter.”  Ned watched Peter sigh again, softly this time.

“Yeah, you’re right.  I’m just scared something will happen that only I can help with.  I can’t let other people get hurt just to protect myself.  Especially when I would only be being extra cautious anyway.” 

God, Ned wished Peter wasn’t such a self-sacrificing idiot sometimes.  “Hey, let’s not assume anything is going to happen.  You’re worrying about something that you probably won’t even need to act on, yeah?”

Peter smiled a bit.  “Thanks, Ned.”

“No worries, Peter!  What sort of Guy in the Chair would I be if I didn’t tell you when you were being an idiot?”

Peter laughed.  “Yeah, alright _Wade_ ,” he said as they passed through the gates into school, “I’ll see you at lunch.”

Ned waved him goodbye, heading over to Principal Morita’s office.  He was _so_ not looking forward to this.  At least he had sort of successfully stopped Peter from feeling guilty about it.  He hoped, at least.

The door to the office was shut, and Ned was kind of unsure whether he should go in or not.  He’d gotten a note in class yesterday to say he had a meeting with the Principal about it all, but he’d never actually been in a situation like this before.  Did he knock?  That felt kind of rude, what if he disturbed Principal Morita?  But if he just sat outside and waited then how would the Principal even know he was there?  Then he might think that Ned was late and he’d be in even _more_ trouble. Maybe then he’d get expelled and sent to that school where the Principal had a rifle (Ned was pretty sure that wasn’t just an urban myth).

Ned abruptly realised he was overthinking this.  Best to just get it over with.  He knocked on the door.

A couple of seconds passed before Principal Morita opened the door.

“Mr Leeds, thank you for coming in on time,” he opened the door wide and gestured for Ned to take a seat in front of his desk.  There was only one chair for him to take, because the other two already had people sitting in them and _holy shit what the hell_ Ned was not prepared for there to be police officers in this meeting.  Oh God.  He didn't have to worry about getting expelled because he was going to get _sent to jail_ instead.  Or juvie.  Could you get sent to juvie for watching porn?  Ned wasn’t sure. 

He sat down in the only available seat, which in addition to being across from Principal Morita was in between the two officers.  Why would they leave _that_ seat for him?  Just to make him feel even more intimidated? 

“Um, Sir?  You wanted to see me?”  His voice was shaking now, too.  Perfect.

“Yes, Mr Leeds, we need to have a talk about what happened when you left the Homecoming dance.” 

“I’ll never watch porn again, Sir, I promise!” Ned blurted out. “Please don’t send me to jail!”

Principal Morita looked slightly alarmed.  “You are not going to be sent to jail, Mr Leeds, don’t worry.  Detention, however, you may have to attend for a couple of weeks.”

Oh thank _God._   Captain America PSA videos, Ned could deal with.

“Oh, thank you Sir.  I’m really sorry.  Can I go now?” 

“Not so fast, Mr Leeds.  The school has to investigate any potential problems with its website blocking system, so we had one of our IT staff look through the search history after you admitted to accessing inappropriate websites on a school device.”  Wait, if they checked the history they wouldn't have found any porn.  Then why was he in trouble at all?  Why were the police here?  Principal Morita continued. “Our staff member couldn’t help but notice you had downloaded a manual for a car that was stolen from school property the night of the dance.”

 _Shit_.

“Officers Smith and Hope here, are investigating how this theft occurred and would like to ask you a few questions.”  Principal Morita didn’t look particularly happy about what he was saying.

Ned looked up at the officer to his left.  The woman, Officer Smith, was looking at him with a reassuring face, not accusatory like he was expecting.

“Oh.  Um, okay.” 

“Thank you, Mr Morita, Mr Leeds,” she said.  “Now I just want to make it clear that you’re not under suspicion, Edward.  You were in the company of Midtown staff members while the actual theft occurred, so obviously we know you didn’t commit it.”

“ _However_ ,” interrupted the other officer, a stern faced man, “if you’re not willing to cooperate with us you could be regarded as an accomplice.”  That was bad, Ned knew.  Accomplices went to jail sometimes, at least in movies - that was usually to do with murders, though.  Or bank robberies.  Officer Smith spoke again.

“We just have a few questions though, Edward, and then you can be on your way.”  She gave a pointed look to the other officer.  “There’s nothing for you to be worried about.”

Wait a minute.  Ned’s eyes widened in surprise; they were playing good cop bad cop!  On him!  A kid in high school!  Wow.  Why did things this cool have to be so intimidating in real life?

“Now, Edward,” she turned so she was looking directly at him, “can you tell us why you were searching these things?”

“I—um, I was just – well, I heard what happened to Flash’s car, and I was, curious?  You know?  Because who does that?  Like, steals cars?  Crazy!  Ha.”  Ned was not good at this, he was so not good at this.

None of the adults in the room looked impressed.

“Is that so, Mr Leeds?” said Officer Hope.  “That’s interesting.  And actually, we _do_ know who would do that.  Mr Thompson was all too happy to tell us who the culprit was, and I can’t imagine you haven’t heard it around school?”

Ned gulped.  “I, uh, don’t really talk to Flash.  I haven’t heard anything.” 

“I’ll fill you in then,” he continued, “Mr Thompson and a witness confirmed that it was the enhanced vigilante known commonly as Spider-Man.” 

“O-oh,” Ned said weakly.  Officer Hope didn’t wait for Ned to say anything else before going on.

“Yes, exactly.  A dangerous, unpredictable criminal stole and then destroyed your peer’s car after taking it for a _joyride_ through the city.  And you happened to be looking up details about that exact model of car at the same time as this was occurring.  Quite the coincidence, don’t you think, Mr Leeds?”

Ned wondered if this is what an asthma attack felt like.  He should ask Peter sometime.  Oh no, Peter.  Did these cops _know_?  Not yet.  But if Ned said the wrong thing they would know and ohgodthenthesecretwouldbeout.  What _should_ he say?  He could barely breathe let alone think of what he could say that wouldn’t incriminate either himself or Peter.

“I don’t – I – I—“

“That’s enough!” came a firm voice from in front of Ned.  Principal Morita.  “Officers, you came here to investigate a crime on school property, _not_ to interrogate my students about vigilantes.  Especially when you already admitted you know this student did not commit the crime in question.  I’m sure there are rules against questioning a minor, particularly one whose parents are not present.”  He paused to let the gravity of that sink in.  “I am not above calling your superiors, and I am requesting that you leave the premises.  Immediately.” 

Officer Hope clenched his jaw, looking ready to object, but Smith swiftly spoke up.

“Of course Mr Morita, we hope we didn’t cause too much of a disruption to your students.  Thank you both for your cooperation.”  She got up to leave, ushering the other man out of the room with her. 

As soon as the door shut behind them Ned slumped in his chair.  “Principal Morita, thank you _so much_.  That was – wow.  I can’t believe that just happened, do you—“

“Mr Leeds.” 

Ned snapped his mouth shut.  Morita took a deep breath, clasping his hands together on the desk.

“I like to take a personal interest in making sure all of my students here are safe.  And I want them to know that they can always come to the school, to _me_ , for help if they are in a situation that they feel unsure about.”

Ned nodded.  “That’s really great of you.  Thank you, Sir.”

Morita calmly continued.  “Is there anything you want to talk about, Mr Leeds?  Anything you need help with?”

No.  Peter was the one who wasn’t safe.  But Ned couldn’t tell him that, of course.

“No, Sir.” 

Morita sighed.  “Very well.  You may go to class now,” he waved his hand in dismissal.  “Don’t worry about the detentions, I’m sure that experience was punishment enough.” 

“Oh, thanks, Sir!”  Ned hurriedly picked his bag up to leave.

“And please, remember what I said.  We are here to help you, Mr Leeds.  Not just with academics.”

“Yes, of course.  Thanks again.”  And with that Ned was already out the door.  He really needed to speak to Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 'Wade' comment Peter makes is definitely a reference to Kim Possible, and where my mind immediately went to when Ned mentioned being Peter's 'guy in the chair'. Wade is the ultimate guy in the chair, just saying.
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who left kudos and/or comments it would seriously be impossible to overestimate just how much it means to me.
> 
> I have a tumblr! I'm hblankm over there too if you wanna talk or lurk or whatever i don't have many followers lmao so if you talk to me i get very excited.
> 
> I finally have a bit of a break from classes and work next week so hopefully i can update this soonish! No promises though sorry!
> 
> Also wow that's a lot of dialogue and italics oops.
> 
> Minor edits made 21/10


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